The disclosed invention relates generally to a medical device assembly and more particularly to a ureteral stent.
Known ureteral stents are typically placed within a urinary tract of a patient such that one end portion of the ureteral stent is located in a kidney of the patient and another end portion of the ureteral stent is located in either a bladder or a ureter of the patient. Some known ureteral stents include retention members configured to help retain the ureteral stent in position within the patient. Known ureteral stents are typically positioned within the urinary tract of the patient by placing a guidewire within the patient, sliding the ureteral stent on the guidewire, and then forcing the ureteral stent along the guidewire into a desired position within the patient using a push rod. Such ureteral stents are often removed from the patient by pulling the ureteral stent from the urinary tract of the patient.
Known ureteral stents often cause discomfort to the patient once the ureteral stents are positioned within the body. Further discomfort can also result when the ureteral stent is being removed from a patient due to the configuration of the retention member. For example, in some known ureteral stents, the retention member has a coil shape that is intended to be unwound as the ureteral stent is being removed from the urinary tract of the patient. The retention members of some known ureteral stents, however, have the tendency to form a knot or a hook configuration during removal. Thus, the knot or the hook configuration drags along a sidewall of the ureter as the stent is being removed. In other situations, the end of the stent itself may drag along the sidewall of the ureter as the stent is being removed from the patient.
Thus, there is a need for a ureteral stent having a retention portion that is reconfigurable upon removal of the stent to help reduce pain and discomfort to the patient.